Chapter 11

The list of things Captain Ahmed Maroun wanted Bravo Company to accomplish in securing the Hydroelectric Facility appeared to be complete. But, there are a number of enhancements that he had in mind, such as: covered guard stations and motion sensors. For now, those have to wait.

It is time they started repairing the damage done to the substations and transmission lines that will be used to distribute AC power to Auburn. He convened an after dinner meeting of his officers and Max’s key people to gather status on the current situation. After listening to the last of the status information on securing the local area, Captain Maroun came to a decision and said, “Tomorrow morning, we will start work on repairing the transmission lines and substations.

“Max, Lieutenant Denton’s Platoon will be escorting your Line Crews. I want each of your crews to remain close to their guard detail and I want the guard details to remain in close proximity to each other. So, it would be helpful for us to understand how your crews will be doing their work. Do you have a plan for completing the repairs?”

“I do, and I was in the Army in my youth, Ahmed, so I understand your position regarding your people supporting us and each other. Before I explain what we will be doing, it would help for me to give you a simplified overview of what we are dealing with.

“Before the Fall, electrical power was distributed using a vast switching network that covered the entire US. If there was a problem with one part of the network, we were able to isolate the problem by routing power around the faulty equipment or damaged segment of the network until the damage was repaired.

“The Folsom Hydroelectric Facility provided electrical power to the national power distribution network. The local power companies took power from the distribution network and the companies distributed the power to the consumers of a very large area around Sacramento.

“I am going to give you a simplified description of how power got to the consumer, Ahmed, but remember simplified descriptions aren’t always totally accurate. Think of the power substations and transmission lines that connect the substations as part of the national network. The power companies would tap into the network at or between the substations and then use their equipment to stepdown the voltage and distribute the power to their customers over the companies’ local power lines.

“When the meteoroids damaged the local and national distribution networks, the damage caused circuit breakers in the networks to trip and remove AC power from large portions of the national and local networks. We can’t just reset the tripped breakers to restore power with the damaged sections of the national and local networks still connected for they would just trip again.

“Currently, the entire local and national network is damaged. So what we will do is isolate the portion of the networks we are going to use from the rest of the national and local networks, and then we will repair our portion of the network. As we secure the Sacramento Area, we will isolate and repair additional segments of the damaged networks, and reconnect the repaired segments to our network.

“Right now what that means for us in practical terms is, we don’t have the time or resources to repair all of the damage done to the national network or to our local networks. Therefore, we will disconnect the portion of the national network we want to use from the rest of the national network. That’s the portion that routes power from Folsom to the Wise Substation in Auburn. Then we will repair our section of the network which will get power to Auburn. We will do the same thing to the local power companies’ networks within Auburn to provide power to just the SCCs, Freight Yard, and other designated locations. Once we have power restored to the Auburn area, we can train more people in what we do and they can help us in restoring power to the areas the Army will secure in the future.

“When we inspected the substations, one of the things we did was to set the incoming power circuit breakers of the Wise, Newcastle, Horseshoe, and Folsom Substations to OFF and padlocked them in that position. What that did was prevent the high voltage-high current contacts of the four substations’ contactor assemblies from closing and connecting the input transmission lines’ power to the substation’s distribution equipment. In doing so, we created four breaks in the distribution network between the Hydroelectric Facility’s generator and the local power lines in Auburn. These four breaks divide the transmission lines we want to use into three sections.”

Ahmed asked, “Excuse me, Max, but what is a contactor assembly?”

“Think of it as a remotely controlled switch, Ahmed. High voltage, high current power is received at the switch’s input terminals. Its output terminals are connected to the substation’s distribution equipment. We apply a low voltage, low current signal to close the switch’s contacts and we remove the voltage to open the contacts.

“During the past few days, we modified the Folsom Substation’s distribution equipment so we can use the power generated by the Hydroelectric Facility without routing power to the Horseshoe Substation. Basically what we did was disconnect all of the substation’s connections to those portions of the national network we won’t use and most of the connections to the local power grid. The only portion of the local network that we retained is the portion providing us with power.

“My plan for the coming week, Ahmed, is to divide my people into three crews.

“Tomorrow, one crew will go to the Horseshoe Substation and repair the damage to its equipment and disconnect its equipment from the local and national network that we won’t use.

“The other crews will repair the damage to the transmission lines between the Folsom Substation and the Horseshoe Substation. These crews will also disconnect any transmission line connections to other substations that we don’t need and any connections to the local power grid. That will prevent the damaged network sections, which we disconnected, from causing a problem with the equipment distributing power to Auburn.

“Once our work on that section of the transmission lines is complete, we will apply power to the repaired transmission lines. Assuming the Folsom Substation’s circuit breakers don’t trip, we will verify power is reaching the Horseshoe Substation. If it is, we will then repeat the process for the remaining two sections of the transmission lines. That will get power to the Wise Substation.”

Ahmed asked, “What if the circuit breakers trip?”

Max responded with, “Then we will find the problem and fix it.

“After we get power to the Wise Substation, we will disconnect the Wise Substation from the national network and we will disconnect the lines that distribute power to the areas of Auburn that we will not be using. We will repair the local network’s distribution lines that provide power to those areas where we need power and disconnect the lines that we don’t need. If all goes well, we should have power back on in your SCCs by the end of next week or the week after that.

“Lieutenant Denton, did you follow Max’s description and do you have any thoughts on the best way to use your Platoon?”

“Yes, Sir. It sounded like Max is planning to use his three crews at specific sites along a defined corridor. I can assign a Squad to each of his work parties.”

Turning to Max, Captain Maroun asked, “Is Lieutenant Denton’s understanding of how you intend to use your people correct, Max?”

“Yes, but there may be times when we need to send people to pick up equipment and repair parts that we don’t have.”

“Lieutenant, it sounds to me like you will need to split off some of your people as guards for anyone leaving a worksite. Max, you will need to coordinate any scrounging parties you want to send out to permit Lieutenant Denton’s people to go with them.”

Max responded with, “Now, Ahmed, that shouldn’t be a problem since your people have all the vehicles.”

Captain Maroun smiled and said, “That’s true right now, Max. But, I recall you mentioning that among the things you need to do the repairs are some of the power companies’ vehicles that have the tools and equipment necessary for doing the repairs. Once we take you to the facilities where these vehicles are at, you and your people will be able to use those vehicles to go anywhere you want.

“Lieutenant Denton and I understand that is the reality of the situation, Max, and we aren’t trying to keep you confined. You and your people may think we are being overly paranoid about being attacked, and you may be right. But as Rangers, we had to deal with similar situations in the past. What we found was people don’t always deal with reality in a rational and appropriate manner. I don’t want your people heading off without an escort, getting into an encounter with the survivors, and getting themselves killed or mishandling the situation.

“I am also aware of the fact that your people think they can arm themselves and protect themselves in any situation that comes up. That may be true most of the time, Max, but they can’t work and protect themselves at the same time. They also do not have the training that my people have and if they do end up in a firefight, I doubt they will support each other in the manner necessary to minimize their casualties. I suspect they will have an every man for themself attitude, and without proper coordination, they may even end up shooting each other or an innocent survivor.

“I recall reading a newspaper account where two men living in an apartment complex heard this loud noise that sounded like a shot. Both men grabbed their pistols and stepped outside of their apartments to see what was happening. Each of them saw the other with a pistol in their hand and assumed the other guy had fired his weapon. They both decided to prepare to defend themselves, and when they swung their pistols toward each other, they each thought the other guy was going to shoot them. They both opened fire at each other. Thankfully, they were both terrible shots and only ended up with minor flesh wounds and bills for repairing the holes in the building.

“I don’t want your people shooting survivors just because a survivor has a weapon in their hands, Max. My men and I aren’t opposed to your people being armed as long as your people are trained in how to use their weapons and how to act in a potentially hostile situation. I doubt they have had the type of training I have in mind, so until I know they are properly trained, I don’t want them walking around carrying guns.”

“I’ve heard my guys talking, Ahmed. It didn’t occur to me before, but I think you may be right about what might happen if they are armed, and they suddenly encounter an armed stranger. I’ll talk with them about not arming themselves, but some of them will probably do so anyway. Is there any way we can get the training you think we need?”

“Not right now, Max. I talked with the Ark a while back, and they are preparing a program to offer weapons training to people like you and your men, but it will be a while before you and your men can be trained.

“One more thing for your people to remember, Max. Before we deployed, your people were informed that they would be subject to martial law. They were also told they were not authorized weapons. So if they do arm themselves, they will be in violation of the laws governing our area of interest. As this area’s senior officer, it is my duty to enforce those laws and I really don’t want to expel or execute your people, and that is what I will have to do depending on the circumstances.”

“Okay, Ahmed. Warning understood and I will pass it on to my people. Since we can’t return to the Ark for training yet, is there some way that you can authorize my people to have weapons?”

“No promises, Max, but I’ll talk with the Ark about field training again and get back to you.”

After the meeting ends, Lieutenant Aaron Denton said, “Ahmed, Max’s people will want to be armed and some of them are going to ignore anything he tells them.”

“I know, Aaron. Before everyone deploys tomorrow morning, I’ll remind them of why it will be a bad thing to be found under arms. I suspect one or more of them will ignore what I say and end up in trouble. In my mind, the only question I have is, if I will have to banish them, execute them, or flog them.”

Captain Bell met with her two Lieutenants to finalize their plan for searching the surrounding area for survivors. The Ark had ordered all of the SCCs to postpone search efforts until the SCCs were ready to support survivors. Today’s plan has Lieutenant Cruz’s First Squad on guard duty, and his other two Squads going out to search for survivors. Lieutenant Diaz’s First Squad is their Quick Reaction Force, and his Second Squad will search for survivors. His Third Squad will return to the Freight Yard to pick up the SCC’s water truck and rations for the survivors. Before they depart and after they return, they will finalize setting up the rooms in CVS and Dollar Tree, setup community centers in three additional stores, and aid the Negotiators as needed. The Negotiators are busy identifying the outstanding items to be addressed to make all of the stores ready for the survivors who will be arriving today and during the remaining days of the search period.

Three of the four pickup trucks with speakers were prepared for deployment. Each of the three Squads being deployed drove through designated areas while playing their We are Here Message. Each Company’s message was tailored to direct the survivors to their respective SCC’s location, but when necessary the Squads will transport survivors there. The Quick Reaction Force remained at the SCC, in or near their vehicles, until needed.

Meanwhile, similar meetings were convened and arrangements made at Charlie and Echo Companies’ SCCs. But things were very different at Delta Company’s SCC. Survivors had continued to arrive at their SCC over the past few days, and they now have well over a hundred survivors and minimal supplies to support them. Captain Victor Russel assigned one of his Squads to pick up water, rations, and other necessities from the Freight Yard. His remaining Squads assisted the overwhelmed Negotiators. No survivor search parties will be deployed. Delta Company has more than enough work to keep them busy preparing rooms for their current survivors and getting them settled. Even worse, they are expecting further walk-in groups of survivors to arrive throughout the day.

During their second week at the SCCs, the Companies completed the search of their surrounding areas for survivors and get the survivors settled into their rooms at the SCCs.

Now that the search effort is complete, it is time to start recovering and burying the remains of the people who died in Auburn. No one is looking forward to the task, but it has to be done.

It is 0500 and Lieutenant Fitz Morrison and the rest of Seal Team 2 formed up on Level 14 of the Auburn Silo. They stood at one end of what the Arkians of the Silo’s residential levels, Levels 2 through 13, commonly referred to as a Park. But Level 14 is used for manufacturing, and the Ark Army has used its two thousand foot by five thousand two hundred foot Park as a training ground and parade field. This morning, Lieutenant Morrison was using one end of the Park for Seal Team 2’s pre-deployment briefing and Seal Team 3 was conducting a similar briefing at the other end of the Park.

A large meeting room was normally adequate, but crowded, for a meeting of the sixty-five Seals of Seal Team 2. But today, they were dressed in protective gear for deploying to what is called Blocking Post 1, and they have their weapons, ammunition, other military equipment, and their personal belongs with them that the Seals will carry to the Transit Station when the briefing is complete.

Lieutenant Morrison began the briefing with, “Good Morning, people.

“Our superiors have been planning the establishment of Blocking Post 1 for several years. Nine months ago, I informed Ensigns Bilart and Burr that we had been tasked with the mission of establishing Blocking Post 1 on Highway 80 at the Applegate Inn. Since that occasion, the three of us have expended a great deal of time and effort in planning this mission and in preparing you and ourselves to completing the mission.

“In practical terms, the two Ensigns and I interpreted our orders to mean we need to accomplish two things. The first is to create a barrier that will stop hostile parties from proceeding south on Highway 80 and attacking Auburn. The second is we are to man the barrier until relieved.

“We are all aware that TV Channel 77 is the Military Channel. Generals Reppa and Henderson posted their plan for securing what used to be the United States to that channel. The senior officers under their command posted their plans for their portion of General Henderson’s plan. The General’s plan for securing the Sacramento Area contains his schedule for completing the plan’s seven Stages. If you haven’t checked Channel 77 since we first returned to the surface, which was only five days ago, you may not be aware of the full impact that recent events have had on the schedule for completing his plan.

“We are all aware that Seal Team 2 was initially scheduled for deployment on the third day of our return to the surface, so our deployment is two days late. As we have often heard, no plan survives contact with the enemy. That is what happened to the General’s plan for securing the Sacramento Area.

“It has become apparent that the Ark’s planners overlooked a number of factors that had a major impact on the individual aspects of the overall plan for the Sacramento Area. As a result, many of the tasks necessary for our deployment were overlooked. The scope of the plan’s tasks and the time necessary to complete many of those tasks were underestimated. Part of what caused the problem was that it is human nature to overlook the minor details of completing a task and this led the planners to underestimate multiple tasks’ time and manpower constraints. There were also interdepartmental scheduling problems where one department was ready to do something but the support from a second department failed to materialize. A second part of the problem is we are returning to the surface earlier than planned and conditions on the surface are far worse than those that were planned for.

“For us, the result of all of this is our deployment was been delayed by two days. We have also been promised the delivery of certain resources during our mission, and based on the current situation, the resources we have been promised will probably not be delivered in the timeframe promised. So don’t be surprised if we have to scavenge resources to meet our needs and adapt to the circumstances the delays will create.

“I checked Channel 77 before leaving my quarters to come here. From what I could tell, the schedule for completing Stage 1 has taken a major hit. Before all of the problems started surfacing, the plan called for us to complete Stage 1 in less than a year. The schedule is now showing that we will not begin Stage 2 for at least three years. The schedule also indicated that for planning purposes, further schedule slips should be anticipated. I was told that the people involved in doing the work are looking for ways to reduce the slippage. I interpret what I’ve seen and heard to mean no one has a reasonably accurate estimate for when we will begin Stage 2. Our deployment is Situation Normal, All Fucked Up; but we are accustomed to dealing with SNAFU situations, so we will do what we need to do to perform our mission.

“The original deployment schedule identified that Seal Team 2 would be assigned to Blocking Post 1 until after the start of Stage 2. Unless the situation changes drastically, that means we should expect to be at Blocking Post 1 for at least three years.

“When we arrive at our deployment location, we have two priorities: build the barrier and setup our living quarters. Ensigns Bilart, Burr, and I began the planning stage before lockdown, so we were able to visit and explore the Applegate area and the Applegate Inn. We submitted the listing of materials and equipment we identified as necessary for completing our mission to the Provisioning Department, and the Recycling Department provided us with a list of local locations where we can scavenge the equipment we will need. I have to assume the Provisioning Department did not have some of what we needed. We know what the Inn and surrounding area was like back then, but we don’t know how the meteoroid bombardment and subsequent rainstorms have affected the area. Therefore, we will all need to be flexible and adapt to unexpected changes and situations.

“Now that I have gotten the history of how we got to this point and the current status of Stage 1 out of the way, I will move on to what we are going to do today. When this briefing is finished, we will move all of our equipment and baggage down to the Transit Station and board one of the trains. We are scheduled to depart the Transit Station at 0630, so we need to wind this briefing up shortly. We will arrive at the Freight Yard at 0700. We will be provided with two gun trucks and twenty pickup trucks to transport us, our equipment, and our supplies to Blocking Post 1, and we are scheduled to deploy at 0745. However, twelve of the pickups will return to the Freight Yard. The first thing we will do on our arrival is unload the twelve pickups scheduled to return to the Ark and temporarily store the equipment and supplies in a building that is located immediately to the north of the Inn. To the north of that building, there is a Valero gas station and there are also a number of residences and businesses tucked away back in the forest that surrounds the Inn. If necessary, we can use those locations as living and storage space.

“Gentlemen, that is about all I can tell you at this time. We will have to wait and see what we find when we arrive at the Applegate Inn, and we will have to adapt the plans Ensigns Bilart, Burr, and I made to cope with the current conditions. Are there any questions before we head down to the Transit Station?”

Looking out over the members of his Seal Team, Lieutenant Morrison saw no hands raised. “Alright, people. Grab your stuff, head for the elevators, and fall-in at the Transit Station for roll call. Dismissed.”

The Ark Army’s deployment plan for the day called for Seal Teams 2, 3, 5, and 6 to deploy and establish four Blocking Posts on the main highways into the Auburn area.

Seal Teams 2 and 3 are to set up Blocking Posts 1 and 2, which are located in the Applegate and Elders Corner areas. Those two Blocking Posts are intended to be permanent installations as they are on the northern border of the Sacramento Area. Blocking Post 1 will be maintained until the Ark Army secures the Reno, Truckee, and Lake Tahoe areas, which according to the original schedule could require at least thirty years. Blocking Post 2 will be maintained until the Ark Army secures the northern half of California, and the original schedule shows that will require a minimum of a hundred years.

Seal Teams 5 and 6 are to set up Blocking Posts 3 and 4 which are intended to be temporary installations that will become obsolete as the Ark Army expands beyond the Auburn area. Blocking Post 3 is to the north of Sacramento and it will be maintained until Sacramento is secured, which will not occur until the completion of Stage 6. Blocking Post 4 is to the northeast of Folsom and it will be maintained until Stage 3 is complete. The impact to the schedule means Posts 3 and 4 will be manned for at least the next three years.

Confusion reigns supreme in the Freight Yard.

The plan called for Seal Teams 2 and 3 to deploy at 0745 and 0800; Teams 5 and 6 were to deploy at 0930 and 0945. Last night, a modification was supposed to have been made to the pickup trucks that the Seal Teams were to use. The work did not get done due to other priorities, so the members of Sam Thomas’s Construction Department are busy getting the pickups ready for use by the Seals. That has delayed the deployment of the first two Seal Teams and their delay will delay the deployment of Seal Teams 5 and 6.

The urgency the commanding officers of Seal Teams 5 and 6 feel for getting to their Blocking Posts and setting up their living quarters before sundown resulted in their arriving at the Freight Yard a little earlier than planned. There is a lot going on in the Freight Yard. Two hundred and sixty Seals, their equipment, and their supplies are waiting to deploy, and as they waited they wandered around visiting with friends. Companies A, C, D, and E had people at the Resupply Point picking up their SCCs’ supplies and water trucks, and taking care of other business. Several Scavenger Teams were unloading the supplies scavenged from Auburn’s stores and warehouses, for storage in the Ark. Sam’s construction crews were working on the vehicles and other projects. Numerous civilians were scurrying around trying to help everyone. The congestion and confusion were causing further delays. The Ark Army’s neat, staggered deployment schedule had been totally obliterated.

Lieutenants Fitz Morrison (Seal Team 2) and Andrew Tanny (Seal Team 3) approached the woman who seemed to be in charge of the construction crew that is installing the M240 Bravo machine gun pintle mounts in the pickups.

Fitz Morrison asked, “Mistress, are you the one in charge of this operation?”

Lillian Roberts responded, “Yes. What can I do for you?”

Fitz said, “I’m Lieutenant Fitz Morrison and this is Lieutenant Andrew Tanny. Our Seal Teams are supposed to deploy to the Guard Posts on the highways, and we were told that you would assign vehicles to us.”

After checking her notes, Lillian said, “Yeah, I have the two of you down for a total of four gun trucks with awning covers and forty crew cab pickups.”

Andrew Tanny asked, “What are awning covers?”

Lillian responded, “It’s something someone came up with to protect your machine guns when they are on the pintle mounts. See that framework on the pickup my people are working on over there.”

Andrew said, “Yeah.”

“When we turn that vehicle over to you, there will be a canvas cover in the pickup bed. When you get to where you’re going, all you have to do is install the cover on top of the framework and tie it in place. Remember to take the cover off if you’re going to drive the truck. The cover comes in a pouch that has repair splices and tools in case you have to shoot at someone and a support tube is damaged. Before you ask, there are six vertical supports and if you shoot through any two of them, the other four are supposed to be enough to keep the cover from collapsing on you. I’ve been told that in tests, three verticals kept the top up most of the time, as long as the verticals weren’t all on the same side of the pickup.”

Fitz said, “Thank you, mam. If we can get the regular pickups now, our people can start loading our gear while your people finish up our gun trucks.”

It is 0915 and the three officers and sixty-two men of Seal Team 2 are finally ready to deploy to the Applegate Inn, which is on Highway 80 six miles north and slightly east of the Freight Yard as the crow flies. Seal Team 3 is almost ready to deploy to Elders Corner on Highway 49. The officers in charge of Seal Teams 5 and 6 were tearing their hair out because of the problems delaying their deployment.

“Ark 2, Seal 2. Over.”

“Go, Seal 2.”

“We are deploying to Blocking Post 1, over.”

“Roger, Seal 2. Ark 2 out.”

A half hour later, Seal Team 2 arrived in the Applegate area. One of the Seal Team’s two gun trucks parked in the middle of the northbound lane of Highway 80 while the rest of the convoy’s vehicles took the northbound exit lane so they could crossover the overpass and return to the Applegate Inn on the frontage road. Once the Seals verified there was no one at the Inn, they parked their vehicles in the Inn’s parking lot. However, they remained alert and ready to repel attackers for they do not know if there may be a hostile force just out of sight preparing to attack. They have been trained to be prepared for the unexpected and their training has resulted in a somewhat paranoid outlook.

Prior to the Ark going into lockdown, the three officers were unable to do a detailed inspection of the interior of the two buildings they will be using. Lieutenant Fitz Morrison’s (Seal 2) and his two Ensigns, Kenneth (Ken) Bilart (Seal 2-1), and Samuel (Sam) Burr (Seal 2-2), now checked out the interior of the Inn and the adjacent building to ensure they were suitable for use as living quarters. The buildings were still habitable, so the Lieutenant had his two Ensigns instruct Chief Petty Officers Kaner, Woodard, King, and Cirque, the senior NCOs of the four Seal Platoons, to unload the pickups, starting with the pickups that are to return to the Freight Yard, and to temporarily store everything in the building to the north of the Inn. Once the twelve pickups were unloaded, they returned to the Freight Yard.

Lieutenant Morrison had Ensign Bilart instruct his men to find their bolt cutters and cut an opening in the chain link fence that is between the Inn and the highway, so the Seals can easily move between the buildings and the two gun trucks, which will be parked on the highway. The Seals designated to remove the section of fencing sling their weapons and turn their attention to their task; while their comrades remain alert to what is happening in the area.